Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to failure prediction on an electrical power distribution network.
Description of the Related Art
An electrical power distribution network is an interconnected network for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers. An electrical power distribution network generally includes a power grid defined by one or more electrical power generating stations that produce electrical power, high-voltage transmission lines that carry the generated power from the point of generation to demand centers, and distribution lines that connect individual customers so that those customers may receive and consume the electrical power generated originally in the generating stations. Intermediate to the distribution lines and the high-voltage transmission lines are sub-stations. Sub-stations “step down” the power from the very high voltage of the transmission line to a lower distribution voltage suitable for distribution to customers, and one or more feeder backbones each served by a feeder breaker to further distribute power from each substation to different lateral branches to which the individual customers are coupled by transformers that even further step down the power to a service level voltage.
The power lines of an electrical power distribution network support many devices which are prone to random failure such as, wire splices, overhead disconnect switches and underground elbow terminations. At the onset of a typical failure in a device, an impedance experienced at the failing device increases resulting in an increase in temperature, which in turn further increases the impedance and so forth. This condition, known as “thermal runaway” ultimately results in the complete failure of the device and an outage of power to an affected premise.
Overhead splices have been routinely used in the power grid, including in the different feeder backbones, well before the advent of the smart grid and smart meters. Often the organization responsible for the power grid may not have an accurate indication of a number and placement of overhead splices in a feeder backbone. Notably, in the case of an overhead splice, a failure occurring as a result of thermal runaway may cause a line break and a live power line falling and contacting the ground—a very dangerous and potentially fatal condition.